Duffy callup a huge acceleration of the Process

I called my dad yesterday to let him know I had arrived safely at the home of my host family in California. Kyle Davies had come out of the game, but Vin Mazzaro hadn’t yet made history with the worst pitching performance ever. Dad asked me who I thought would come up to replace Davies, and it did not cross my mind that a prospect would actually get the call. Not yet.

With two starters hurt, the Royals definitely needed to scramble to fill those spots with somebody. But isn’t this situation the reason we signed Jeff Suppan?

Dayton Moore could have made the textbook move of calling up the Veteran Guy he had stashed in the minors for this. Would anybody have faulted him? Even though he hasn’t been good at all in Omaha – his ERA is 4.93 but a super-low BABIP suggests that he’s actually lucky it’s that “low” – he still seemed like the predictable choice. Instead of being safe and adhering to the textbook, Moore has aggressively promoted two more prospects while leaving the grizzled veteran behind.

The Process has been accelerated with the promotions of Everett Teaford and Danny Duffy. Do you trust it?

Bill M

It’s no worse than back in the day, when the Royals in 1984 brought up Danny Jackson, Mark Gubizca and Bret Saberhagen. Worry in a couple of years who is going to leave town; let’s get the train moving now so that in 1-2 years these guys will be seasoned vets able to handle pennant race and playoff pressure.

I’m conflicted. The baseball fan in me is psyched to see more of these future stars at work. The fretter – the guy who visits too many baseball blogs dedicated to gloom and pessimism – worries that our front office is going to screw up a good thing. Mostly, though, I’m with Bill M. They’ve been brought up. Let’s see what they can do.

Adrian

I think the problem comes when we try to apply a narrative to “The Process”–that there is a beginning, middle and end to it. Really, however, “The Process” should never end. Ideally, there should now be a steady stream of prospects available for the major league club until the end of time.

It’s going to take a couple of years for these players to establish themselves at the major league level–to be the leaders of the team and not just the latest prospect. It needs to start some time.

As for Suppan, he’s not on the 40-man roster. If you have to burn a 40-man spot, I’d much rather it be for Duffy. Dutton said Pucetas is a possibility?!

[…] 6: Eric Hosmer was a pretty flower. Yeah. May 17: Danny Duffy got called up. I blogged about it from Bermuda Dunes, CA. June 2: Lucas May was traded. I blogged about it from Desert Hot Springs, […]

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I'm a lifelong Royals fan from Nebraska. I worked for the Omaha Royals/Storm Chasers from 2007-2011 and now I just sort of live at the ballpark.
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